Over four exciting and intellectually challenging weeks you will explore a homeland of modern Jewish history. Discover with us that even seventy years after the Holocaust, Jewish life still carries on in the heart of contemporary Europe - and that it remains vital to that region's character. On our traveling seminar you will learn first-hand about the many paradoxes of history, memory, and politics which define Central European Jewish experiences today.

On our month-long traveling seminar through Central Europe, you will walk the streets of three capitals, explore smaller cities and towns, and visit sites of memory, including Cracow and Auschwitz. In these places, history and memory intersect with daily life and lived culture. If you interested in questions of Jewish identity and history, you will not want to miss this unique and deeply rewarding experience.

Berlin, a heart of Jewish civilization before the Holocaust, will be the focal point of our tour. It remains today a major center of Jewish life in Europe. It is also one of the world's most exciting cities. During your weeks in Berlin, you will witness and learn how the former Nazi capital city has reestablished itself as a European and Jewish cultural center. You will also consider the challenges it faces in that role, from issues of globalization and demography to new forms of antisemitism. In Berlin and beyond, you will find that Europe's Jewish communities have developed their own responses to some of the same challenges facing Jewish communities in North America.

In addition to Berlin, you will visit Warsaw, Cracow, and Budapest. Each of these cities bears witness to the resurgence of European Jewish life from the ruins of war and genocide. At the same time, each city has a different relationship with its past, with unique set of tensions and opportunities. They also face different challenges, due to local and regional variegation. Our traveling seminar aims at revealing the nature of these differences, and using them as a text fro thinking in broader terms about the history and future of Jewish life in Europe.

Accommodation and Travel

Students will stay in shared rooms in 3-star hotels or the equivalent. Jewish Journeys will coordinate all travel between destinations. For shorter distances we will travel by coach. Longer trips will be taken by either train or plane.

Students must make their own arrangements for travel to and from Berlin to participate in the program. The cost of this transportation is not included into the program fees. Students must arrive in Berlin by Sunday, 29 May. Orientation will take place on Sunday evening in the hotel.

Fees

The program fee of 3,375 EUR includes accommodation, travel between program destinations, daily breakfast, and entrance fees for group activities. The program fee does not cover: travel to and from the program, lunches and dinners, and personal travel and touring within Europe.

Students will receive a full refund in case of a cancellation made before 15 April. Due to booking requirements, refund is not possible after 15 April. Similarly, there will be no refund for leaving the program early.

Application

Applications must be submitted by 1 May 2016. Students applying by our early bird deadline of 15 February will receive a 5% reduction from the program fees. Please send your application to info@jewishstudiesabroad.org.